{"id":40872,"date":"2016-08-10T06:53:20","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T12:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=40872"},"modified":"2025-11-06T17:07:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T23:07:26","slug":"sage-thrasher-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/10\/sage-thrasher-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"Sage Thrasher Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ImmatureImmature Sage Thrasher portrait – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I had an immature Sage Thrasher get so close to me that I was able to take portraits of it as it perched out in the open.<\/p>\n

I was photographing another thrasher on a pile of brush when I took my eye away from the view finder long enough to adjust a setting and when I did I saw this young thrasher perched even closer. It must have flown in while I was focused on the other bird. So I turned my focus onto it.<\/p>\n

\"SageSage Thrasher close up – Nikon D810, f10, 1\/800, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I am presented with the opportunity like I was yesterday where a subject moves or flies in this close to me my instinct is to take portraits of it, I don’t hesitate, I take them. It kind of seems silly to me not to take them when I have the chance to.<\/p>\n

I spend a great deal of time in the field and I know that opportunities like I had yesterday on Antelope Island<\/span><\/a> with this thrasher perching so close to me don’t happen all that often.<\/p>\n

\"SageSage Thrasher close up at 100% resolution – Nikon D810, f10, 1\/800, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a section of the image above but at 100% resolution. I can see the rictal bristles above the gape, a smudge of dirt below that, the dirt on the bird’s bill and I can count the feathers that circle this young thrasher’s golden eye. I love the details and the clarity I can see in portraits.<\/p>\n

\"YoungSage Thrasher Portrait – Nikon D810, f10, 1\/800, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was able to take about a hundred images of this immature Sage Thrasher before it flew away and I am glad that I was able to take those images.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Sage Thrasher photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I had an immature Sage Thrasher get so close to me that I was able to take portraits of it as it perched out in the open. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,103,26],"tags":[4142,11978,4067,4071,821,4164,4746,4003,4018,2315,4613,735,4193],"class_list":["post-40872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-sage-thrashers","category-utah","tag-close-up","tag-desert-island","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-mimids-2","tag-oreoscoptes-montanus","tag-portraits","tag-sage-thrasher","tag-sky","tag-summer-3","tag-thrasher","tag-thrashers","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8653.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aDe","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28094,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/03\/an-immature-sage-thrasher-on-a-september-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":40872,"position":0},"title":"An Immature Sage Thrasher On A September Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sage Thrashers on Antelope Island State Park are busy getting ready for migration and the thrashers hatched this year appear to be almost ready to go.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Sage Thrasher fluttering its wings on a branch, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-september-mia-mcpherson-3579.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-september-mia-mcpherson-3579.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-september-mia-mcpherson-3579.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-september-mia-mcpherson-3579.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66616,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/03\/09\/juvenile-immature-and-adult-sage-thrashers\/","url_meta":{"origin":40872,"position":1},"title":"Juvenile, Immature And Adult Sage Thrashers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The comparisons I have made between juvenile, immature and adult Sage Thrashers are basic, there are more ways to determine their age but I wanted to keep the comparisons simple.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Sage Thrasher on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-5075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-5075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-5075.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-5075.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":94260,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/08\/30\/our-sage-thrashers-will-migrate-soon\/","url_meta":{"origin":40872,"position":2},"title":"Our Sage Thrashers Will Migrate Soon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Sage Thrashers are only in Utah for their breeding season and by now all their chicks have fledged and are feeding on their own.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Back view of a Sage Thrasher in early morning light, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-back-view-mia-mcpherson-2564.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-back-view-mia-mcpherson-2564.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-back-view-mia-mcpherson-2564.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-back-view-mia-mcpherson-2564.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-prey-mia-mcpherson-6931.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-prey-mia-mcpherson-6931.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-prey-mia-mcpherson-6931.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-prey-mia-mcpherson-6931.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":83163,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/02\/spring-sage-thrasher-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":40872,"position":4},"title":"Spring Sage Thrasher Portrait","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The second bird I photographed 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https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-close-up-adult-mia-mcpherson-2045.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54254,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/09\/22\/sage-thrashers-northern-mockingbird-white-crowned-sparrow-and-wild-rose-hips\/","url_meta":{"origin":40872,"position":5},"title":"Sage Thrashers, Northern Mockingbird, White-crowned Sparrow and Wild Rose Hips","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The birds I photographed on the wild rose bushes were adult and immature Sage Thrashers, an adult White-crowned Sparrow and one beautiful Northern Mockingbird.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northern Mockingbird perched on a wild rose, Box Elder County, 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